Word: diarrheal
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...given about $1.33 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria since it was created in 2002. No specific funds are dedicated to diarrhea programs, though the commission funds health services in poor countries and helps upgrade water and sanitation services. The International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research in Bangladesh is at the cutting edge of the disease and treats 150,000 patients a year. Its annual budget: just $20 million...
Although the new statistics, and the apparent link between hand-washing practices and disease reduction, need further investigation, "this certainly raises our attention," says Lenis. Diarrheal diseases are the biggest killer of children under age 5 worldwide; in Bolivia, 30,000 children die each year from such illnesses. Swine flu, as H1N1 is still referred to there, has hit Bolivia hard as well, with more than 2,000 infections and 55 deaths in a country of 9 million, most having occurred during the southern hemisphere's winter (June through August). (Read "Child-Care Centers and Parents Brace for Flu Season...
...tells TIME. For years, WASH has been trying to educate people, particularly in developing countries, about the benefits of a simple action like washing hands with soap. Diligent washing, especially at critical times (like after going to the bathroom and before meals, for example), helps reduce the rate of diarrheal disease by more than...
Lenis and Dooley are still wary of the short-term data on Bolivia's descending rates of diarrheal disease; it remains to be seen whether the trend will hold up. But the findings "make a lot of sense, because behavior change like increased hand-washing happens quicker when there is a perceived threat," says Dooley. She says she has not seen similar data regarding a drop in rates of diarrheal or other diseases on an H1N1 timeline from other countries (though at least one news report suggests that increased hand-washing due to H1N1 has led to a sharp reduction...
Bolivia's challenge now is to maintain the good numbers. The last time Bolivia witnessed a plummet in diarrheal-disease rates was during the cholera outbreak of 1992 and 1993, when better personal-hygiene habits led to a reduction in the spread of infection. But as the threat of the disease died down, so too did people's standards of cleanliness. Lenis says that the Bolivian government is committed to continuing its media campaigns and that ongoing potable-water and sewage-system expansion projects will help make Bolivians healthier. Most important, however, is keeping up the education, says Lenis. "Adults...